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The next day, Zhang Mei finished all her work early and went to the brigade headquarters.

Er Lengzi had arrived by then, along with Liu Maocai and Wang Xi, and several other strong young men, who were preparing to slaughter a pig.

Wang Xi assigned tasks: those who boiled water did so, and those who did heavy lifting had to hang the pig up. Er Lengzi circled the wild boar and said, "Third Uncle, this pig has thick skin and won't soften when stewed. Let's just skin it."

"Yes, that's what I think too."

"The knife in my hand isn't sharp, I need to sharpen it. This pig butcher isn't professional; the pig's blood wasn't fully drained. I guess he'll have to rinse the meat more before stewing it."

Liu Maocai spotted Zhang Mei. "Mei, what brings you here?"

"Uncle, let me see how to slaughter a pig?"

"Why are you looking at this, young lady? It's too bloody."

"I'll learn how to slaughter pigs; maybe I can even get wild boars someday."

Er Lengzi came over to look at Zhang Mei. "Is this the wild boar you hunted? Wow, this little girl is quite strong. Weren't you scared?"

"How could I not be afraid? I didn't originally intend to kill the pig, but it kept chasing me, so I stabbed it to save my own life."

"What a lucky break! What incredible luck!" Er Lengzi exclaimed in amazement.

Zhang Mei thought to herself, "You're the one with dog shit luck! This sister is incredibly lucky."

Once the water boiled, Er Lengzi directed them to splash the water on the wild boar, and then they began to scrape it. While scraping, he explained, "Although we don't eat the skin, it's still a good thing; we can make shoes from it."

"Then what?" Zhang Mei was genuinely curious.

"It needs to be cooked with something before it can be cooked. Mei, sell me this pigskin, I'll give you twenty yuan."

Liu Maocai, who was watching from the side, heard Er Lengzi's words and was afraid that Zhang Mei would say something wrong. "Mei, you hunted this wild boar. You gave the meat to everyone, so of course the pigskin is yours."

"Brother Er Lengzi, then I'll sell it to you. I have no use for it."

"Okay, my sister is really generous."

Zhang Mei watched as Er Lengzi skinned and then gutted the animal. "No, I really can't bear to watch," she said. "Third Uncle, I'm going back. This is too disgusting. I'm afraid I won't want to eat meat for a while."

"Okay, go back now. Come over for lunch, that's fine. I'll save some meat for you later. Er Lengzi said there are 350 jin of pork clean meat. I'll save 20 jin for you, and have your third aunt help you marinate it so you can eat it slowly later."

"Then we'll take the rib section. It has both fat and lean meat, so it'll be more flavorful when stewed."

“Okay, your brother Jian will be here in a bit. I’ll have him send it back to you. Just wait at home.”

"Also, why don't we sell some of this meat? It's a waste to eat it all."

"No way, we finally get to eat meat, let everyone eat their fill, let's all eat."

"My sister is so generous. I'll pick out the best three-layered ribs for you in a bit."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Brother Er Lengzi. You guys carry on with your work, I'm going back now."

When Zhang Mei got home, Er Ya was already waiting at the door. "Where did you go? You absolutely mustn't go up the mountain again. Last night, my mom found out and told me that if you go up the mountain again, I must tell her, or she'll get back at you."

"My second sister is the most loyal."

"Don't flatter me, and I also hope you won't go there again in the future."

"Where's your pheasant? I'll clean it up for you. Pheasants only get thinner the longer they're raised. If we kill it and rub it with salt, it'll keep for a long time. We can save it for later."

"It's framed up, what can I do?"

"Go boil water, make sure it's boiling. We'll fry the chicken in a bit."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

"Mei, take out a bowl first, we'll collect the chicken blood in a bit."

"Okay, but you can take the chicken blood back; I'm not eating it."

"It's so delicious, you're missing out!"

"Forget it, I don't want that kind of treat. I'll just eat meat."

Zhang Mei watched as Liu Erya slaughtered the chicken. The chicken weighed only about three pounds, and the blood and internal organs were discarded. Erya had no choice but to rub salt on the chicken, hang it up, and then go home to take the blood and internal organs back home.

"Mei, my mom went to stew some meat. Shall we go over later? Maybe we can sneak a few pieces?"

"I'm not going. I'm trying to avoid my aunt right now, why would I want to go near her? Am I stupid?"

"Mei, I brought you the meat. My mom said to leave it for now and she'll come over this afternoon to marinate it, in case it spoils."

"I understand, Brother Jian. I'll put it in the cellar now and wait for my Third Aunt."

Liu Jian delivered the meat and left. Er Ya held the piece of meat and said, "This must weigh about thirty pounds. Er Lengzi is quite good. The meat is also good, with three layers of fat and lean."

"My third uncle asked me why I specifically asked for this piece. I'll cook something delicious for you later."

"Let's go find my mom. If you go there now in front of so many people, she might only grumble a few words, but if she comes to your house this afternoon, it'll never end. Don't you know what's important?"

"That's true, let's go then."

The two locked the door and went to the production team's office. It was bustling with activity there; five large pots were stewing meat together, with vermicelli, cabbage, potatoes, and sauerkraut beside them. Five other pots were steaming cornbread, and there were twenty tables in the courtyard, but no benches or bowls/chopsticks.

A table can accommodate more than ten people, so there's no room for stools. We bring our own bowls and chopsticks from home.

Next to it was a large pot where a pig's head was being stewed. The internal organs had been cleaned out, and it would be braised in the pot later. This was a dish reserved for the village's elderly. A little while later, several young women came along, each carrying more than ten large basins, serving meat, vegetables, and cornbread.

Looking at such a spectacular scene, Zhang Mei felt it was like her cousin's wedding banquet in her previous life, only without as many dishes.

"Sister Er Ya, let's go home and get our bowls and chopsticks, then go to Tai's house and wait until it's time before we come over together."

"Okay, anyway, it looks like it'll be a while before we get there. We don't need to do anything here, so let's not cause any trouble."

The two went home separately, then took their bowls and chopsticks to the old lady's house. She was home alone. "Grandma, we're here!"

"Come inside. We're all benefiting from your hospitality today. We're able to eat as much meat as we want even though it's not a holiday."

"Tai, are you going to eat later? Or should I bring it to you?"

"I'll go by myself. It's so boring staying home alone. Maybe I'll eat a few more bites if I eat with everyone?"

The mother and her two children sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), and the old lady taught them how to embroider insoles. Zhang Mei picked up an insole that the old lady had embroidered before; it was so lifelike, it looked just like the real thing. "Embroidering something this good is something I would wear. If it were me, I wouldn't even want to wear it; I'd keep it as a work of art to admire."

"That's all nonsense. Insoles are just for putting underneath, why treat them as works of art? If you like, I have a few insoles that I embroidered before, you can keep them as works of art."